Delhi Government to sell tomato at Rs 20/kg

Delhi Government on Friday decided to sell tomatos at a 'controlled' price of Rs 20 a kg from Saturday.

Delhi Government on Friday decided to sell tomatos at a 'controlled' price of Rs 20 a kg from Saturday, in order to check spiralling prices and provide relief to the common man.

State Food and Civil Supplies Minister RK Chauhan took a decision to this effect at a high-level meeting attended by officials of the Food and Civil Supplies department and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee.

It would be sold through Government stalls at Azadpur (North Delhi), Okhla (South Delhi), Ghazipur (East Delhi) and Keshopur (West Delhi) at Rs 20 a kg from Saturday.

Informing that 209 tonnes of the red fruit had arrived in the national capital on Friday, the minister indicated that as its arrival quantity increased, the Government would reduce the price further.

Teams of the Enforcement wing of the Food and Civil Supplies department would visit various markets in the city to ensure that there was no hording or retailers did not charge the people too much for the commodity.

The usually sweeting tasting fruit, used in most dishes, had turned sour with it selling at prices ranging between Rs 32 to 40 per kg.

Unseasonal rain in Himachal Pradesh and high temperature in Haryana and Rajasthan was said to be the reason behind the unusually less arrival (209 tonnes) of tomatos compared to an arrival of 521.3 tonnes at the same time last year.

Tomatos from Solan (HP) were the most expensive but also the best quality, those from Rajasthan and Haryana came next, while Uttar Pradesh were the cheapest.